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Star Carrier #7
Dark Mind
New York Times Bestselling Author Ian Douglas continues his Star Carrier saga as humanity unites against an ancient artificial consciousness powerful enough to exterminate every species it encounters
2425. The civil war between the United States of North America and the Pan-European Confederation is over. But before a new era of peace on Earth can begin, humankind must martial its interstellar forces as one fleet to engage in a war against an alien entity in Omega Centauri. Without provocation, it destroyed a Confederation science facility inhabited by 12,000 people, and it must be neutralized before it sets its sights on Earth.
Admiral Trevor “Sandy” Gray of the USNA star carrier America has his own mission. The enigmatic AI known as Konstantin has convinced him that humanity’s only chance for survival is technology found in a distant star system. Now, Gray must disobey orders as well as locate and create a weapon capable of defeating a living sphere the size of a small planet…
2425. The civil war between the United States of North America and the Pan-European Confederation is over. But before a new era of peace on Earth can begin, humankind must martial its interstellar forces as one fleet to engage in a war against an alien entity in Omega Centauri. Without provocation, it destroyed a Confederation science facility inhabited by 12,000 people, and it must be neutralized before it sets its sights on Earth.
Admiral Trevor “Sandy” Gray of the USNA star carrier America has his own mission. The enigmatic AI known as Konstantin has convinced him that humanity’s only chance for survival is technology found in a distant star system. Now, Gray must disobey orders as well as locate and create a weapon capable of defeating a living sphere the size of a small planet…
389 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2017
97 people are currently reading
444 people want to read
About the author
Ian Douglas
99 books573 followersIan Douglas is a pseudonym used by William H. Keith Jr..
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
May 11, 2017
Well, it's official, Ian Douglas' Star Carrier series has jumped the shark.
Much like his Warstrider series, the Star Carrier series should have ended before this book. Warstrider was an excellent trilogy, and the fourth book was a disappointment.
Star Carrier has managed to stay on track a little longer, only starting to go off the rails in the sixth book, and completing the train wreck in this the seventh installment.
I love the universe that Douglas has created, the technology is fascinating and the characters are engaging. "Sandy" Gray is easily one of my favorite protagonists in all the military fiction I have read. Or he was, until this book where he has begun a slide into paranoia and bigotry. The paranoia I can forgive, because the AIs really are running the show and leaving humans out of the loop, but the bigotry has come to the fore and it's an ugly thing.
I was so excited when I read about the White Covenant in the first book of the Star Carrier series. The idea that religious wars did so much damage to the world that society finally woke up and banned proselytizing and public displays of religion was extremely exciting. However, it has become clear over the course of seven books that Douglas thinks that the White Covenant is a stupid idea, or at least Gray does.
At one point in this book, Gray mentally rails against the celebration of the Winter Solstice. Why would he object to people celebrating the return of the light and the beginning of the journey out of winter? Because it’s not Christmas you see. Gray is from a segment of society that practices monogamy, and are apparently Christians, since they celebrate Christmas. Grey objects to people not being able to publicly celebrate a religious holiday (he also makes the point that “Holiday” is derived from “Holy Day”), without ever thinking to ask the celebrants if they want to celebrate anything other than Winter Solstice. The base assumption here is that everyone in the United States of North America is Christian and being repressed. Gray has been in military service for many years and should have a concept of diversity in his subordinates, but clearly he missed the boat.
It’s clear in this book that what Douglas alluded to in book five is going to come to pass, the White Covenant is going to be repealed and religious expression and proselytizing will again be legal. This is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising.
Gray’s paranoia and bigotry towards machine intelligences also makes a prominent appearance in this book, being highlighted in his conversation with a tech who has so many implants that Gray questions her humanity, with the implication that someone who follows a different path can be deemed non-human. The brief time we have with the tech as the narrator gives us the clear impression that she has been seduced by technology and is unable to consider that AIs may be a danger to humans. A disappointingly shallow characterization, and completely unneeded to move the story forward, just a little jab at people who take a path that Douglas does not approve of.
After that particular disappointing segment, the book goes completely off the rails and introduces us to sentient bacteria that have been controlling a bunch of alien species because they don’t want to lose their organic hosts to a technological singularity, like what happened way back in the past. So the secret of why a coalition of aliens from ~850 million years in the past is trying to force humanity to give up certain types of technology is because of a sentient bacteria that can’t figure out how to build their own bodies. On top of that, the bacteria waited all this time (200 years, give or take) to try and cross the species barrier and infect humanity. It’s almost like they didn’t exist before this book…
Of course the book wouldn’t be complete without humanity triumphing against a species so technologically superior that they appear as gods to the ants of humanity. To set the scene, there is a ship the size of a small planet with weaponry so advanced that it can wipe out a human fleet with no more effort than a human swatting a mosquito. The plucky human fleet consisting of star carriers from nations all over Earth (and some other ships, but nothing really matters except the star carriers) is being slaughtered.
While this is happening, Gray is off on a mission given to him by the super AI Konstantin to go look at a system that supposedly has a super secret super advanced super helpful (maybe) alien race that can help humanity against the Rosette aliens. Why this system hasn’t been investigated in the past when it’s relatively nearby and has anomalies that have been observed since way back in the 21st century is never explained, but it’s critical that Gray disobey orders from his human superiors and go to this system.
So at this point I’m really curious where this is going, since there are so many possibilities. As events progress at Tabby’s Star we find out that Douglas has gone full Independence Day. That’s right, the valiant crew of the star carrier America is going to hack the Gibson. Wait… Wrong storyline. They’re going to use an alien computer virus to take out the Rosette aliens. Yes, seriously. On top of this (and yes, I realize I’ve gotten the timeline a little out of order) we’re supposed to believe that somehow the Konstantin clone on the America is capable of containing and copying this super virus made by a technologically superior species.
As usual, the humans triumph, the main characters live to fight another day, and we are left with yet another cliffhanger. I’m not excited about the future of this series.
Much like his Warstrider series, the Star Carrier series should have ended before this book. Warstrider was an excellent trilogy, and the fourth book was a disappointment.
Star Carrier has managed to stay on track a little longer, only starting to go off the rails in the sixth book, and completing the train wreck in this the seventh installment.
I love the universe that Douglas has created, the technology is fascinating and the characters are engaging. "Sandy" Gray is easily one of my favorite protagonists in all the military fiction I have read. Or he was, until this book where he has begun a slide into paranoia and bigotry. The paranoia I can forgive, because the AIs really are running the show and leaving humans out of the loop, but the bigotry has come to the fore and it's an ugly thing.
I was so excited when I read about the White Covenant in the first book of the Star Carrier series. The idea that religious wars did so much damage to the world that society finally woke up and banned proselytizing and public displays of religion was extremely exciting. However, it has become clear over the course of seven books that Douglas thinks that the White Covenant is a stupid idea, or at least Gray does.
At one point in this book, Gray mentally rails against the celebration of the Winter Solstice. Why would he object to people celebrating the return of the light and the beginning of the journey out of winter? Because it’s not Christmas you see. Gray is from a segment of society that practices monogamy, and are apparently Christians, since they celebrate Christmas. Grey objects to people not being able to publicly celebrate a religious holiday (he also makes the point that “Holiday” is derived from “Holy Day”), without ever thinking to ask the celebrants if they want to celebrate anything other than Winter Solstice. The base assumption here is that everyone in the United States of North America is Christian and being repressed. Gray has been in military service for many years and should have a concept of diversity in his subordinates, but clearly he missed the boat.
It’s clear in this book that what Douglas alluded to in book five is going to come to pass, the White Covenant is going to be repealed and religious expression and proselytizing will again be legal. This is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising.
Gray’s paranoia and bigotry towards machine intelligences also makes a prominent appearance in this book, being highlighted in his conversation with a tech who has so many implants that Gray questions her humanity, with the implication that someone who follows a different path can be deemed non-human. The brief time we have with the tech as the narrator gives us the clear impression that she has been seduced by technology and is unable to consider that AIs may be a danger to humans. A disappointingly shallow characterization, and completely unneeded to move the story forward, just a little jab at people who take a path that Douglas does not approve of.
After that particular disappointing segment, the book goes completely off the rails and introduces us to sentient bacteria that have been controlling a bunch of alien species because they don’t want to lose their organic hosts to a technological singularity, like what happened way back in the past. So the secret of why a coalition of aliens from ~850 million years in the past is trying to force humanity to give up certain types of technology is because of a sentient bacteria that can’t figure out how to build their own bodies. On top of that, the bacteria waited all this time (200 years, give or take) to try and cross the species barrier and infect humanity. It’s almost like they didn’t exist before this book…
Of course the book wouldn’t be complete without humanity triumphing against a species so technologically superior that they appear as gods to the ants of humanity. To set the scene, there is a ship the size of a small planet with weaponry so advanced that it can wipe out a human fleet with no more effort than a human swatting a mosquito. The plucky human fleet consisting of star carriers from nations all over Earth (and some other ships, but nothing really matters except the star carriers) is being slaughtered.
While this is happening, Gray is off on a mission given to him by the super AI Konstantin to go look at a system that supposedly has a super secret super advanced super helpful (maybe) alien race that can help humanity against the Rosette aliens. Why this system hasn’t been investigated in the past when it’s relatively nearby and has anomalies that have been observed since way back in the 21st century is never explained, but it’s critical that Gray disobey orders from his human superiors and go to this system.
So at this point I’m really curious where this is going, since there are so many possibilities. As events progress at Tabby’s Star we find out that Douglas has gone full Independence Day. That’s right, the valiant crew of the star carrier America is going to hack the Gibson. Wait… Wrong storyline. They’re going to use an alien computer virus to take out the Rosette aliens. Yes, seriously. On top of this (and yes, I realize I’ve gotten the timeline a little out of order) we’re supposed to believe that somehow the Konstantin clone on the America is capable of containing and copying this super virus made by a technologically superior species.
As usual, the humans triumph, the main characters live to fight another day, and we are left with yet another cliffhanger. I’m not excited about the future of this series.
October 11, 2021
Great SiFi series and each book holds it own as a great read. If you like you SiFi based on some good hard science both real and theoretical then Mr Douglas does the perfect writing job for you. Very recommended
August 14, 2017
Always a thrilling adventure from Ian Douglas. Set far away from Earth Admiral Gray runs into the smallest enemy and the most powerful enemy humanity has faced so far. The America AI leads Gray and his ship through a portal to a completely unknown area of space with a Dyson ring that has been destroyed.
Well developed characters and great story development.
Recommended Author and series
Well developed characters and great story development.
Recommended Author and series
June 6, 2017
I find it difficult to rate and review this book. Overall I found it quite enjoyable to read, enough for a four star rating, but I also got the feeling that the book series is not progressing as I would have liked and has perhaps even outstayed it’s welcome a wee bit.
The first books were rather straightforward space adventure pitting humans against a technologically superior foe. Great action, technically and scientifically sound, great characters and generally well written.
In the latest book you sometimes get the feeling that the author is struggling to invent more and more mysterious and complicated enemies and plots. The enemies are everything from intelligent bacteria to huge planet sized brains. The action is generally fairly one sided where the various alien entities beat the crap out of the humans and any victories for the home team is not won by superior tactics and military prowess but by various complicated schemes using things the humans do not really fully understand.
In addition to this little gripe of mine the author spends a lot of time wandering out into technological and, sometimes, philosophical musings. It is difficult for me to complain about this since I generally like science fiction that has a solid foundation in science but you can have too much of everything. In this book I felt like there was just too much info-dumping going on. It was like a musical where the plot is interrupted by some song and dance every so often except in the book it was interrupted by these long blobs of text which did not really move the plot forward.
However, despite this I quite enjoyed the book. It could have been better as far as I am concerned but it is still a good and well written book.
The first books were rather straightforward space adventure pitting humans against a technologically superior foe. Great action, technically and scientifically sound, great characters and generally well written.
In the latest book you sometimes get the feeling that the author is struggling to invent more and more mysterious and complicated enemies and plots. The enemies are everything from intelligent bacteria to huge planet sized brains. The action is generally fairly one sided where the various alien entities beat the crap out of the humans and any victories for the home team is not won by superior tactics and military prowess but by various complicated schemes using things the humans do not really fully understand.
In addition to this little gripe of mine the author spends a lot of time wandering out into technological and, sometimes, philosophical musings. It is difficult for me to complain about this since I generally like science fiction that has a solid foundation in science but you can have too much of everything. In this book I felt like there was just too much info-dumping going on. It was like a musical where the plot is interrupted by some song and dance every so often except in the book it was interrupted by these long blobs of text which did not really move the plot forward.
However, despite this I quite enjoyed the book. It could have been better as far as I am concerned but it is still a good and well written book.
November 21, 2017
A great book in line with the previous ones in this series.
The only difference is that this is a bit more heavy on the astro-philosophy. There is so much greatness happening all the time that you can't read it for just half an hour at a time - it deserves more time to really reflect over the implications of what the author is suggesting.
The only difference is that this is a bit more heavy on the astro-philosophy. There is so much greatness happening all the time that you can't read it for just half an hour at a time - it deserves more time to really reflect over the implications of what the author is suggesting.
July 12, 2017
God's and Technology
When an advanced civilization makes way for the hero's of Earth we get everything from ghosts to a master AI.
Do humans win or becoming the pawns?
When an advanced civilization makes way for the hero's of Earth we get everything from ghosts to a master AI.
Do humans win or becoming the pawns?
May 9, 2017
_Dark Mind_ starts off where _Deep Time_ left off. It took a few pages to get back into the swing of things. This time around, the book feels more like a bridge between two antagonists more than anything else.
There isn't a lot of carrier action this time around. A few scenes with the carrier squadrons, but not much. A lot of different threads moving along. Sh'daar and its resolution felt weak. Hard to wrap your head around doing peace negotiations with your present day attacker 800+ million years in the past. The final reason for why the Sh'daar fear GRIN I didn't find that satisfying.
The book has the usual Ian Douglas traits of long winded explinations of technical details between lines of dialogue. If you are not used to this, it can be disconcerting to have a character mention something then end up with several thick paragraphs of detail. This time around he brings in Tabby's Star and his take on why the Kepler spacecraft saw what it saw.
Overall, this is an OK entry into the Star Carrier series. But isn't the best.
There isn't a lot of carrier action this time around. A few scenes with the carrier squadrons, but not much. A lot of different threads moving along. Sh'daar and its resolution felt weak. Hard to wrap your head around doing peace negotiations with your present day attacker 800+ million years in the past. The final reason for why the Sh'daar fear GRIN I didn't find that satisfying.
The book has the usual Ian Douglas traits of long winded explinations of technical details between lines of dialogue. If you are not used to this, it can be disconcerting to have a character mention something then end up with several thick paragraphs of detail. This time around he brings in Tabby's Star and his take on why the Kepler spacecraft saw what it saw.
Overall, this is an OK entry into the Star Carrier series. But isn't the best.
September 23, 2017
I was trying to give space opera (my #1 read genre) a break, then this book finally came in from my local library.
Several interesting plot twists, a couple that I did not see coming. It is nice when an author, especially one whose work I find "meh" can surprise me in a good way. I was a little surprised to see Gray succumb to a one night stand, the repercussions of that probably scared him off from doing that again.
Damn Taggart is back both in Gray's life and bed. I wonder if she is still boning other dudes, or is willing to give up other lovers for Gray out of respect for his feelings and beliefs. Love means respecting your partner and understanding their wants and desires. I would not expect Taggart to completely change, but surely there has got to be a middle ground that they could agree to.
Ending of the book was a huge surprise that I see some did not appreciate. I am going to see where the next book goes with it.
Several interesting plot twists, a couple that I did not see coming. It is nice when an author, especially one whose work I find "meh" can surprise me in a good way. I was a little surprised to see Gray succumb to a one night stand, the repercussions of that probably scared him off from doing that again.
Damn Taggart is back both in Gray's life and bed. I wonder if she is still boning other dudes, or is willing to give up other lovers for Gray out of respect for his feelings and beliefs. Love means respecting your partner and understanding their wants and desires. I would not expect Taggart to completely change, but surely there has got to be a middle ground that they could agree to.
Ending of the book was a huge surprise that I see some did not appreciate. I am going to see where the next book goes with it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2018
Science-Fiction by its very definition requires an element of science to built into the story. Ian Douglas overloads you with science in his stories. The Star Carrier series is the third of Douglas' series that I have enjoyed reading, however Star Carrier has been the most problematic of the group. The plot and characters are not the issue, though there are some flaws. The problem is with the science Douglas uses in his stories, I feel that almost half the book was spent explaining theoretical breakthroughs in nanotechnology, space travel, astrophysics, and artificial intelligence that I was reading a science textbook rather than a novel.
What he does get right are the concepts surrounding what alien life would look like, it wouldn't be anything like what we've imagined of on series like Star Trek, Dr. Who, or Star Wars, it would be unrecognizable in human terms.
What he does get right are the concepts surrounding what alien life would look like, it wouldn't be anything like what we've imagined of on series like Star Trek, Dr. Who, or Star Wars, it would be unrecognizable in human terms.
May 4, 2017
One of those books where concepts and subjects will be mentioned that you'll end up stopping to do some research for yourself as the author obviously did. This one crosses quite a few new boundaries of research while at the same time remaining as Americans In Space fighting the good fight against numerous different types of aliens. The aliens are suitably alien and not all bipeds with fake foreheads. It's the sort of book where they mention 1,000 megatonne warheads and then add that to realistically hurt the thing they're shooting they'd need around 9,000 of them at the very least. All good stuff. The story is nowhere done even here in book seven even though this book come to a satisfying, if rushed, conclusion.
January 24, 2018
To nie jest wymagająca literatura. Bardzo standardowa militarna space opera bez większych ambicji. Autor to doświadczony rzemieślnik. Poza tym to 7 część cyklu. Na dodatek czyta się to bardzo szybko. Reasumując, taki literacki fast food. Nie można mieć zbyt wysokich oczekiwań. Ale autor szastając czasami ciekawymi (ale niedopracowanymi) pomysłami powinien jednak zadbać, aby zachować związek przyczynowo-skutkowy. Zamiast wyciągania rozwiązań z rękawa i od czapy. Bo to razi amatorszczyzną i zniechęca. Douglas prezentuje pewien bardzo przeciętny, ale strawny poziom. Jeśli ma trudności z jego utrzymaniem, to powinien już skończyć. Oczywiście, to nierealne. W kolejnej części, sądząc po zakończeniu, będzie kolejna porcja wyciągania królików z kapelusza.
June 16, 2018
Brilliant xenobiology, excellent technical information, and a creative scope as big as the universe, Ian Douglas really has the right stuff in this instillation of the long running Star Carrier Series. A really great alien bacteria plays an interesting role, but you've got to read it to believe it. Plausible for four centuries in the future? I sure hope so. Space Opera is so so hopeful compared to post-apocalyptic science fiction, I just want Douglas to be proven prescient...about most things.
May 27, 2017
About what you except from Ian Douglas. Space fighting and exploration of various theories and ideas. I'm disappointed in how much over lap and similarities his series are getting into now. This book could have been confused for book 1 of his Andromeda series.
July 10, 2017
A good story line and interesting decisions to be made. The story was interesting and held my attention. I was surprised by the ending and a little put off so I am giving four stars. I highly recommend this book to any hard military sci-fi fan.
August 9, 2019
A good, fast paced, enjoyable summer read ! Plenty of science in this science fiction ! A lot of mind boggling ideas and concepts abound in this series !More than enough space battles to satisfy my needs !
January 23, 2025
Turns out that this is the best book in the series since books 1 and 2, before the civil war started.
Highly recommended.
November 2, 2017
Always enjoy his take on possible alien intelligences.
December 20, 2017
Interesting progression to the Star Carrier series. Hope there will be more in the future in this series
March 12, 2018
Entreating, creative, engaging. love every page
June 10, 2018
Turns out it was all just mitichlorians...
April 30, 2019
Another amazing battle vs the Rosetters. This Star Carrier series just gets better and better. I can't wait to start reading Book #8 of the series. Keep it going Ian!!
Read
February 4, 2020It's amazing ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
May 14, 2020
The series still maintains interest as the lead characters confront a new menace drawn from speculative science.
June 28, 2020
Bardzo dobra powieść
May 1, 2022
It was a good book. While as with most of this series it starts off a bit slow building the plot it ended up with some interesting twists and plenty of action.
June 30, 2023
Great story!
April 28, 2017
Wow! Ian Douglas wrote a heck of a story
This is the capper of the war against the "Rosetta Aliens" and it is a whale of a yarn. Admiral Sandy Grey and the crew of the America come through with amazing action, characters, and an intriguing plot which tires up so many lose threads from the previous books in this series. In the process, Douglas deals with deep philosophical questions such as religion, war, and machine self-awareness. Its really a thought - provoking look at how humans will contend with technology in the future. I appreciated the thoroughness of the physics and biological explanations, though some might find it boring to plough through the underlying science. If so, just skip past it. Great read, highly recommended.
This is the capper of the war against the "Rosetta Aliens" and it is a whale of a yarn. Admiral Sandy Grey and the crew of the America come through with amazing action, characters, and an intriguing plot which tires up so many lose threads from the previous books in this series. In the process, Douglas deals with deep philosophical questions such as religion, war, and machine self-awareness. Its really a thought - provoking look at how humans will contend with technology in the future. I appreciated the thoroughness of the physics and biological explanations, though some might find it boring to plough through the underlying science. If so, just skip past it. Great read, highly recommended.
February 6, 2018
This continues to be one of my favorite series. Sure, the overall plot may be a bit repetitive , but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. What really makes this series, I think, is its characters. It's been great to watch them grow over the last ~25 years (book time).
I just wish I didn't have to wait until October for the next one!
I just wish I didn't have to wait until October for the next one!
Read
December 31, 2018Another Surprisingly Complex Set of Intricately Interwoven Story Lines That Make the Whole.
This book further folds the reader into the author 's metaverse which is a crowded place indeed. Filled with advanced technologies, baffling philosophical concepts, intriguing interpersonal relationships and a swarm of particle physics. Thank goodness the story is strong enough to motivate you to navigate the stellar thickets. The destination of the journey is well worth the effort to get there. But now I will take on a little lighter reading, like a sorbet to cleanse my palate, before taking on the next in the series.
This book further folds the reader into the author 's metaverse which is a crowded place indeed. Filled with advanced technologies, baffling philosophical concepts, intriguing interpersonal relationships and a swarm of particle physics. Thank goodness the story is strong enough to motivate you to navigate the stellar thickets. The destination of the journey is well worth the effort to get there. But now I will take on a little lighter reading, like a sorbet to cleanse my palate, before taking on the next in the series.
April 28, 2019
There is good reason why this my favorite Sci-fi author
Ian Douglas has entertained me so well for many years now and he sure lived up to my expectations with Dark Mind. His research into technical possibilities is the best I have ever read and along with a fantastic imagination his books are so thought provoking and immensely entertaining. It’s always hard to wait for his next book, but I sure do follow and anticipate each one. Thanks for another great read and hurry up with another please.... :)
Ian Douglas has entertained me so well for many years now and he sure lived up to my expectations with Dark Mind. His research into technical possibilities is the best I have ever read and along with a fantastic imagination his books are so thought provoking and immensely entertaining. It’s always hard to wait for his next book, but I sure do follow and anticipate each one. Thanks for another great read and hurry up with another please.... :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews